The café serves a plethora of beverages. It has been open for quite some time and is frequently visited by both locals and tourists. The atmosphere is rather homely for a middle-class café located within the inner walls of Lmemore.
A man sits in silence, sipping his tea with his eyes closed. From the outside, he looks like a regular customer, but if you look closely, his hand is shaking. Bags under his eyes confirm that he hasn't been able to get much sleep.
Oslan has been up all night, thinking about how he could pay his rent. He is a teacher at the Royal Academy, where he teaches math. However, if his students knew what he was doing with his money, they would lose faith in his calculations.
He has been frequenting different gambling dens and losing money. At first, it wasn't much—it was just his curiosity. He played for fun and lost a bit of money. But after some time, he won big, and the excitement of winning kept him hooked.
Teaching at the academy earns him 15 Stac per month, well above the average earnings of most people. But the gambling dens could double his money in a matter of seconds, so he kept at it.
Without realizing it, he had already run out of his own money trying to win it back. His spending spiraled out of control, and he couldn't even pay his rent for this month. He would have to sleep in a cheap hotel. However, he couldn't bear the thought. After living like an upper-middle-class individual for some time, he couldn't go back to a dusty, creaking room.
As he taps his feet, thinking about his money, a figure approaches him. Oslan wasn't sure at first, but they were clearly looking in his direction. Two youngsters with blonde hair and a maid with brown hair. They were dressed like any low noble would dress—a cheap suit dress that wasn't made from the finest fibers, but it was passable.
They looked around and invited themselves to the other side of the table. One was a guy with blonde hair, while the other was a girl with the same hair color. Oslan had seen this type of person before: a minor noble hoping to make it big in the capital.
Most of them fail miserably.
"What do you want?"
Oslan didn't waste any time.
"Wait, let me guess," Oslan said. "You want to bribe me, right? If that's your goal, then get lost."
It is public knowledge that he is a teacher at the Royal Academy. With a little digging and a few connections, one could find his location fairly easily—given his habit of visiting this café on Thursdays.
"Close, but not quite," the man spoke up. "We're here for information."
"Oh?"
One of his brows perked up in surprise. Oslan adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.
"What kind of information do you want from me?"
"There's a student named Klad I'm interested in."
"Are you here to scout him?"
Noble houses often hired commoners who graduated from the Royal Academy into their ranks. From what Oslan could tell, the man likely needed someone capable at a cheap price—and there just happened to be a commoner who fit that description.
"Something like that."
"I'm sorry, but Klad has been admitted with royal funds. You'll have to pay a large fee upfront to even have a chance of hiring him. Even then, he may reject you—he is from a special class, after all."
"Special class?" The guy looks intrigued
"Yeah, a class of people hand-selected by the church I don't know the criteria but people that graduate from there all have high positions."
"Um...I need to look more into that" The guy said with an ad smile "But my offer still stands I need information about Klad, like his academic skills or his activity."
"I'm not your..."
"Ten Stac a month," the man said confidently. "I could give you ten Stac a month if you hand me the information about Klad."
"I... I have honor, you know?"
Oslan spoke with a shaky voice.
"How about twelve per month?" the man said with a smile. "You don't have to do much—just collect records on the guy and what he does."
Oslan audibly gulped at the offer. With that kind of wealth, he could go for another round of gambling... and maybe triple his money at the dens. He subconsciously began to change the way he viewed these minor nobles. It seemed they had more wealth to spare than he'd thought.
"I..." He hesitated. He still had some pride left. Doing this felt like betraying a student. His training in the royal castle hadn't gone to waste... However, just as he was about to decline, the noble spoke again.
"Oslan, I'm only offering you this deal now," the man said. "You're not unique in your circumstances. I could go to anyone—and you wouldn't get a single dime."
Oslan looked at him and considered the words. He had seen many teachers take bribes. With a little thought, he came to a conclusion:
The guy's going to get the information either way. Might as well earn something for myself.
"How do you want the information?"
"At the end of the month, come to this café with the report, and I'll give you twelve." The man's smile widened. He raised a hand, and the maid behind him stepped forward, presenting twelve gold coins engraved with the Emperor of Eyre.
"To celebrate our partnership," the man said. "This is this month's payment. Also, when I send someone to collect the info, they'll use the keyword Kladdy. If they don't say it, don't give them anything."
"...."
Oslan was dumbfounded by the keyword and mesmerized by the gold coins on the table. However, before he could ask anything more, the man abruptly cut the conversation short.
"Let's go."
He pushed himself up, followed by the girl beside him, leaving Oslan sitting alone.
"Wait!" Oslan shouted, drawing attention from others in the café. "Can I at least know your name?"
"I'm Penu Koshav."